Home Painting Tips
Remember, everyone starts as a beginner at painting. Just
because you have never painted a house doesn't mean you
shouldn't give it a try. The money you save by painting your own
house is money you can put into other home improvements. It can
also be a fun thing for the whole family to do.
Now we need to choose the colors we want to paint the house.
There is a really cool tool online that you can use.
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/wrapper_pcv.asp?L=owner&K=intproj&N=
intproj Click let's paint. Choose exterior or the interior
options. Choose the project closest to yours. Get started and
you will soon know what color you want to paint your house and
you'll have a vision of what it is going to look like when
you're finished.
Here are some of the basics. Of course the first thing you need
to do is wash down the walls of your house. A pressure washer
can be rented at almost any rental yard and is the best way to
do that. Now go around with a scraper and remove all loose paint
and chipped areas. You don't have to scrape the entire wall, but
any areas where the surface is not flat can cause you problems
as you paint your house.
Next, figure out your square footage so you can determine the
amount of paint you will need to buy. Buy your paint in 5-gallon
pails, rather than gallons to save more money.
Talk to the helper at your local paint store and tell him about
your project. They can help you decide on how many brushes and
rollers and other items you will need. You can buy natural or
synthetic bristles for oil based paints, but only use synthetic
bristles with latex paint. The same rule applies to rollers.
Good rollers can run you around $7, but buy high-quality
paintbrushes. A good brush for cutting in around edges will run
you about $30.
Make sure you purchased some painter's tape. It's blue tape that
comes in different widths and is easy to remove without messing
up your paint job. That brings us to preparation. Tape off all
areas you don't wish to get this color of paint on. If there are
large areas to cover, make sure you pick up some rolls of
plastic. You can tape the edges of the plastic down over
whatever you need to cover.
Don't paint out of the paint cans. First reason is that leaving
the paint can open will dry out the paint and make it difficult
to apply. Another reason is that your brush or roller picks up
dirt and foreign objects, which will end up in your paint and
may even change the color as you go along.
Do all of your cutting or trimming in before you paint the
walls. Use a 4" brush and with a smooth stroke guide it around
the edges where you taped off. Make sure you have plenty of
paint on your brush. The biggest mistake people make is trying
to stretch the paint too far. Keep drips cleaned up as you go
with a small rag. Remember you will be rolling up to the edge of
your cut, so don't worry about that, just make sure you cover
the edges well.
Start on the edges of your walls and work your way toward the
middle. Most people don't do this and problems can result. If
you start and new can of paint in the middle of the wall and
there is any difference in the color at all, it will show up
there more than it would on the edges. So with each new can of
paint you open, start at the edges first.
Dip your roller in water (for Latex) or solvent (for oil-based
paint), before you start. Whether you use a pan or a 5-gallon
bucket with a screen, make sure you roll it out a little to make
sure it isn't dripping. You don't need to go all the way from
the top to the bottom as you paint. Do what you can reach.
Apply the paint in a Y or an N pattern, then apply paint in
columns up and down smoothing out all the edges or ridges as you
go. Again don't try to stretch the paint out, make sure you have
enough paint on your roller to give it a good coat. If you are
applying more than one coat, make sure the first coat is
completely dry before applying a new coat of paint. Corners are
a difficult part to learn to paint. If you aren't careful, this
is where you will see paint drips later. Get as close to corners
as you can, but don't scrape the roller against the corner. That
will cause drips. If you are unsure, have a paintbrush handy to
smooth out drips. That is also a good idea overall. Keep a
paintbrush ready for taking care of any drips or ridges you
leave behind. Doing this as you go is much easier than trying to
fix it after it's dry or partially dry.
Using tray liners for your paint trays will save you a lot of
time at cleanup. Soak your brushes when done for awhile and they
will also be easier to clean. For water based paint, soak in
water and for oil based paint soak them in solvent.
I hope some of these tips have been helpful to you. Have
confidence that you can do this job yourself. You will
appreciate and enjoy it much more knowing that you or you and
your family completed the job rather than hiring someone else to
do it.
About the author:
D. David Dugan has a website,
http://homeimprovement.divinfo.com/ to help homeowners find all
the information they need about remodeling, home repair,
building decks and carports, room additions, and more. He also
actively participates in a forum at http://forum.dugancom.com/
that can help you with computer problems you may be having.
D. David Dugan
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